Covering approximately 223,000 acres in southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina, the Great Dismal Swamp is threaded by canals and ditches, many of which have grown over to resemble green tunnels. Approximately 107,000 acres of heavily forested land and water comprise the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. Visitors to the refuge can walk or bicycle the trails; an interpretive boardwalk is located on Washington Ditch Road (vehicles prohibited). A 3-mile-long waterway connects the Dismal Swamp Canal with Lake Drummond; the canal is the oldest man-made waterway in the country.
